New York Giants Players Escape Mall Shooting That Left Teen Dead

On Friday, the 8-5-1 New York Giants were in the Twin Cities preparing for an opportunity to clinch a surprising 2022 NFC playoff birth with a win (and some help) over the 11-3 Minnesota Vikings. Some of the Big Blue players and staff took advantage of the team hotel being attached to the world famous Mall of America to get in some last minute holiday shopping. During the same time, at the nation's largest mall's Nordstrom's location, shots rang out, leaving a 19-year old man dead and thousands in a panic, including the New York Giants.

According to reports by ESPN and confirmed by the team, some New York Giants players were most likely inside the Mall of America during a deadly shooting. Pat Hanlon, the Giants' Executive Vice President of Communications, told The Associated Press that the team was staying at a hotel next to the mall and that New York Giants players were believed to be in the Mall of America at the same time as the shooting. Understandably, the mall is massive, providing nearly 3 million square feet of shopping area. Still, any shooting is scary. One that leaves someone dead is scarier. Bob Popa, the Giants veteran radio play-by-play announcer, tweeted that he was inside the mall at the time.

"Everyone is back in the hotel and accounted for now," Hanlon told the Associated Press on Friday night. Reports said that 19-year-old man was killed during the shooting. The mall went into a lockdown. According to police in Bloomington, Minnesota the Mall of America will be open on Saturday, except for Nordstrom's.